Chapter 43

When Ziyun realized she had fallen into a trap, it was already too late. Gritting her teeth, instead of retreating, she lunged forward, charging violently at the tip of the sword, actually attempting to break the deadlock through suicide!

Xue Jin'an had thoroughly calculated every possibility when he made his move, and Ziyun's reaction was entirely within his expectations. Instantly shifting his stance from a thrust to a parry, Xue Jin'an brushed past Ziyun. In that fleeting moment, the blade sliced through the fabric at her waist, tearing away the artificial skin she had used to conceal her wound.

While everyone else was still too dazed by Xue Jin'an's sudden burst of action to react, Consort Shu slammed her hand on the table and stood up. "She is the assassin!"

"Protect the Emperor—!!" Li Hechun's shrill voice pierced the entire Qianyuan Palace, and the Imperial Guards immediately sprang into action to capture the assassin.

The moment he saw the cold flash of Xue Jin'an's unsheathed blade, Lu Bingzhu had already stepped in front of the Grand Empress Dowager. Struck by deep astonishment upon seeing Ziyun reveal her true colors, he immediately realized he had fallen victim to the grave mistake of conventional thinking. Because the first assassin he spotted was dressed as a guard, he had subconsciously assumed the intruder was male, thereby focusing his investigation primarily on the eunuchs.

*The Seventh Imperial Prince is truly not to be underestimated,* Lu Bingzhu thought with a mix of profound emotion and deep gratification. *Truly, the waves behind drive the waves ahead; the new faces of this restless world replace the old.*

Sharing a similarly complex sentiment was Ziyun.

As they brushed past each other in that split second, Ziyun looked at Xue Jin'an's profile with a whirl of mixed feelings.

First came sheer terror. In her many years of martial arts training, she had encountered countless masters, and changing a strike halfway through was not particularly rare. But a sudden switch in movement when the tip of the sword was already piercing flesh—that was virtually unheard of. It meant absolute control over every single bone and muscle in one's body, coupled with a mastery of force that had reached the realm of perfection.

*For an underage substitute guard to possess such cultivation, it is simply... no disgrace to lose to him!* Ziyun smiled with a sense of release. Her only regret was that she would be unable to pass this intelligence outward.

After the assassination attempt at the Imperial Study, all spies within Qianyuan Palace had been completely rooted out. Only little Xiazi remained at large, hiding somewhere within the palace grounds. The Imperial Guards had also been thoroughly investigated; although some deeply hidden operatives remained undiscovered, none could afford to make a reckless move right now.

"Time and fate dictate this," Ziyun murmured with an almost inaudible sigh, pressing a hand to the wound on her abdomen. She then channeled her inner energy to activate the Gu insect within her body, preparing to meet her end with dignity.

"Oh no, she's going to take her own life!" Lu Bingzhu's eyes sharpened as he instantly recognized the ominous change in Ziyun's complexion.

His gaze rapidly locked onto a usable concealed weapon. Disregarding everything else in the urgency of the moment, he snatched the teacup from the Grand Empress Dowager's hand, intending to flick it forward to strike Ziyun's vital pressure points.

*Screech*—a chilling blade pierced her from behind, tearing straight through her abdomen.

Ziyun looked down at the sword tip protruding from a painfully familiar spot, feeling an overwhelming sense of helplessness. *"Why..."* Again? Right here?

Before she could finish her thought, a violent churning erupted inside her body. The blade twisted, sliding sideways before slicing horizontally out through her *dantian*!

The *dantian* was the focal point of a martial artist's inner energy; once destroyed, all martial prowess was utterly lost! Ziyun's surging inner energy suddenly dissipated, and she coughed up a massive mouthful of blood that sprayed across the floor, splashing directly onto the faces and hair of the front-running Imperial Guards.

No one had anticipated this outcome. For a moment, even the Imperial Guards were frozen in place, utterly stunned.

Despite suffering such a grievous wound, Ziyun did not immediately collapse. Instead, she staggered around to face her attacker, revealing Xue Jin'an standing quietly with his sword in hand.

***

Xue Jin'an remained completely spotless, not a single drop of blood staining his robes. With a flick of his wrist, he executed a clean sword flourish and smoothly sheathed the untainted blade.

Looking at Ziyun with an expressionless face, he said, "Rest assured, you won't die. If you detonate your energy, your master won't be able to clear their name."

What Xue Jin'an meant was that her master wouldn't be able to shake off the countless atrocities they had committed, but what Ziyun heard was that her master wouldn't be able to sever the connection between them.

Ziyun was momentarily stunned. As the original plan flashed through her mind, she abandoned the thought of suicide, allowing the recovering Imperial Guards to twist her arms behind her back and pin her to the ground.

Xue Jin'an turned around and picked up the moderator's script once more. "Let us resume the focused discussion."

The frigid atmosphere cracked under the weight of those words. The paused script-killing game rebooted, and a public notification popped up in the chat window.

[The Moderator presents the evidence: "Ziyun, Assassin of the Imperial Study"]

Consort Xian bolted upright from her seat in horror, stumbling back two paces as she pointed a trembling finger at Consort Zhen. *"You!* I never expected the true mastermind to be you! No wonder you remained so calm after your son died, doing nothing day in and day out except mindlessly twisting your wretched prayer beads. It turns out all these sins were your own doing!"

Noble Consort Rong's mind finally caught up as well, and she immediately joined in to viciously trample over Consort Zhen. Tears springing instantly to her eyes, she wept a tearful rain of sorrow toward the Emperor, mourning pathetically, "You could actually bear to lay a hand on your own flesh and blood! Little Shi was merely an infant back then, such a lively and adorable child. What a vicious woman you are! What a ruthless heart!"

Consort De narrowed her eyes, deep in thought about something. Suddenly, she stood up and walked briskly over to the tray holding the evidence, flipping open the confession of the Imperial Horse Directorate eunuch. She scanned the text ten lines at a time before her eyes locked onto a specific passage. Pressing her finger against the paper, she read aloud, word for word: "...saw her return, hesitating at the threshold, holding a silk handkerchief, seemingly bearing a cloud-patterned design."

"And according to the testimonies of the young eunuchs attending the imperial princes, they crossed paths with Ziyun halfway to the Imperial Horse Directorate, where she claimed she was heading to the Bureau of Palace Attire... The time it takes to travel from the Bureau of Palace Attire to the Imperial Horse Directorate, and from the Bureau to the spot where they encountered the princes, matches up almost perfectly." Consort De stated, adding, "Furthermore, I recall that Consort Zhen has always favored cloud-patterned garments."

"Yes, exactly!" Consort Xian chimed in excitedly, nodding. "Consort Zhen also owns a plain brocade cape with cloud patterns. Although I thought it a bit too drab, I remember remarking that it was quite elegant, and even praised how a touch of white enhances a woman's beauty, saying it suited her remarkably well."

Everyone present: "..." It was the first time any of them had heard mourning garments praised as a compliment. Truly, an eye-opening experience.

Xue Jin'an also felt his horizons broadened: *So people could be complimented that way. Note taken.*

The Fifth Imperial Prince, who had been observing the entire spectacle, caught the nuances in Xue Jin'an's thoughtful expression and couldn't help screaming an internal *ah*: *Don't just learn everything! Your behavior is already hellish enough; are you now going to send your conversational skills hurtling straight into the netherworld?!*

*Wait, seventh brother's way of speaking was never particularly mundane anyway. Ah... never mind then.* The Fifth Imperial Prince firmly clamped his hand over the Fourth Imperial Prince's mouth, deciding to abandon the futile thought of figuring out just how much darker his hellish seventh brother could get.

As for why the Fifth Imperial Prince had felt the need to muzzle the Fourth Imperial Prince, it stemmed entirely from Noble Consort Rong's declaration that Consort Zhen could "even bear to lay a hand on her own flesh and blood."

*"No..."* *It wasn't my mother who did it! How could my mother ever kill Little Shi!* The Fourth Imperial Prince had instantly tried to lunge forward to plead on Consort Zhen's behalf, hesitating not a whit despite his pale face and trembling limbs.

With lightning-fast reflexes, the Fifth Imperial Prince grabbed him and clapped a hand over his mouth.

Struggling desperately, the Fourth Imperial Prince found himself completely immovable, only to have the Fifth Imperial Prince clamp a hand mercilessly around his throat.

***

The Fifth Imperial Prince had originally had no intention of explaining, but seeing the usually cowardly Fourth Imperial Prince struggle with such fierce desperation—and considering that he himself had suffered a relapse just yesterday and was still feeling poorly—subduing the Fourth Imperial Prince was turning out to be quite a strain.

The Fifth Imperial Prince's expression darkened abruptly. To prevent the Fourth Imperial Prince's frantic thrashing from attracting unwanted attention, he hissed in a low voice, "Fourth Brother, calm down. Your mother doesn't look the least bit worried. If you jump out now, you'll likely only ruin her plans."

The Fifth Imperial Prince had seen it clearly: Consort Zhen had remained utterly composed throughout the entire ordeal. Even when her prayer beads snapped, even when she watched Xue Jin'an severely injure Ziyun, her gaze had stayed calm and rational. This clearly indicated she had not yet been driven into a corner.

Taking the advice to heart, the Fourth Imperial Prince ceased his struggling, asking with a mixture of doubt and hope, "Really?"

"Don't you know your own mother?" The Fifth Imperial Prince glanced at him before turning his gaze away. His eyes reflected Noble Consort Rong's tear-streaked, pitifully weeping face as she put on a fragile show of grief, while he thought with a cold internal sneer: *As for his own mother, well, he understood her far too well.*

Noble Consort Rong covered half her face with her sleeve, sobbing softly as she exaggerated and embellished Consort Zhen's "suspicious behavior." While she looked grief-stricken and heartbroken over the unfolding tragedy, the corners of her mouth beneath her sleeve were practically curling upward.

Today, Noble Consort Rong had attended purely with the mindset of a spectator, likely being the only suspect who hadn't frantically scrambled to gather evidence. When the mention of Gu insects arose, she had instantly felt a knot of dread in her stomach, though watching everyone else shift their suspicions to the Senior Imperial Noble Consort had brought her a brief sigh of relief.

She had figured that today's affairs couldn't end easily, so keeping a low profile was the wisest course of action—let the others tear each other apart. Never had she expected that a single sentence from the Senior Imperial Noble Consort would suddenly pin the label of murderer squarely onto her.

She didn't know much about the affair of the late Empress Xiaojingyi, but she wasn't entirely oblivious either. At the very least, she had her own suspicions regarding the death of Xue Zhang; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to procure the Gu insects in the first place... Noble Consort Rong had always believed she covered her tracks impeccably, never imagining that the good-for-nothing Ningguo Mansion would drag her down.

*The Ningguo Mansion—aside from badgering me, they are completely useless!* Noble Consort Rong ground her teeth to dust internally, yet she forced herself to calm down, rapidly weighing whom she should sacrifice to clear her own name. But right at that moment, the tides turned completely: Ziyun was exposed, and Consort Zhen became the target of public outrage!

Consort Zhen—someone she knew inside and out! Noble Consort Rong immediately began churning out a litany of grievances associated with Consort Zhen. To utterly crush her rival, she even dragged up the incident regarding Little Dongzi, claiming that he had been an undercover plant planted by Consort Zhen.

"To my knowledge, Little Dongzi was not a spy." Consort Shu, who had remained silent for a long time, finally spoke up. "The Noble Consort beat him to death quite clearly because he helped the Fifth Imperial Prince cover up the fact that he hadn't taken his medicine."

[Consort Shu presents the evidence: "The Death of Little Dongzi," "Past Events of the Eastern and Western Palaces," "Testimony of the Florist Eunuch"]

Consort Shu instructed her attendants to present the evidence forward.

As it turned out, Little Dongzi and Zheng Xuzi had entered the Minghua Palace in the same year. However, because Zheng Xuzi struggled to recognize faces, he had been rejected and sent back, and dismissed palace attendants and eunuchs could only be assigned to the most grueling and backbreaking chores. He had been banished to the flower house, enduring bitter cold and scorching heat while tilling the earth day in and day out. It wasn't until Little Dongzi became the Fifth Imperial Prince's personal eunuch that Zheng Xuzi managed to successfully transfer into the Tianlu Pavilion.

"Consort Shu, are you investigating me? We have no grievances and bear no grudges; why go this far?" Noble Consort Rong's voice trembled, tears streaming down her face as her body swayed precariously, looking thoroughly pitiable.

Hearing this, Consort Shu offered a rare smile—like an ice-mountain snow lotus blooming transiently, breathtaking yet fleeting. Her voice remained cool and ethereal, carrying a unique, measured cadence: "No grievances and no grudges? Do you really think I didn't know why Zheng Xuzi mistook Little Liu?"

Noble Consort Rong's heart skipped a beat, but she quickly recovered her composure. If Consort Shu truly possessed any solid evidence, she wouldn't have waited until now to strike; she would have produced it long ago. Besides, Zheng Xuzi was already dead—dead men tell no tales.

"Consort Shu, countless people have crossed the threshold of Minghua Palace over the years. I genuinely have no recollection of this Zheng Xuzi, nor did I realize you held such a low opinion of me. I certainly had no idea Little Dongzi harbored resentment toward me over this matter, which led him to strike out against Jue'er! Jue'er has suffered from a heart condition since childhood, requiring at least three bowls of bitter medicine daily... I knew Jue'er feared the bitterness and was reluctant to drink it, but Little Dongzi should never, *never* have enabled him. How is that any different from murder?!"